Why don't you play games on PC?

[drednoahl]

I used to play consoles exclusively and only moved to PC quite recently. I didn't want to make the switch because I thought console gaming was cheap and convenient, but in the last couple of years I was getting more and more concerned about the direction that Sony and Microsoft are taking their consoles. I personally think that some consoles have become a real pain in the backside - after another twenty odd minute update I got rid of my PS3; my 360 a few months later after it started advertising rubbish at me.

I built a test PC out of parts from charity shops and ebay. It cost about 50quid and I built it following guides off youtube (being generally clueless about PC construction.) I never expected results as good as I got and certainly never expected a PC I'd built myself to compete with consoles. I didn't think PC games could compete with the prices for used console games, but with the likes of Steam sales it turns out that PC wins again. Now, for the longest time I was convinced that console gaming was cheaper and more convenient than on PC, and I was seriously upset when I found through experience that I had been wrong.

I'd prefer to be a console gamer, but whatever demographic console makers are aiming their machines at these days isn't me; I wish I'd made the move to PC years ago.

 

[Sight Unseen]

-snip-

Fair enough. BTW though I'm only 21 and in university so I'm not exactly rolling in it either, and I'm in Canada where things are more expensive generally.

If you ever get enough saved up though to make the initial investment, it does pay for itself if you want to play lots of different games from lots of different eras, steam is incredible.

 

[TephlonPrice]

-I have a laptop, so I'm kinda limited in what I can run, though it's still a good bit.
-I'm really used to console game controls, having played console games FAR more than PC games.

 

[Ophiuchus]

I used mostly this site, it helped a lot and I'm very happy with the result I got from it. They even have recommended builds for several price ranges.

http://www.build-gaming-computers.com/

Nice one, looks pretty handy. I'll give it a proper read when it's not 4am, haha.

 

[CCountZero]

Yes. Because if people aren't as good with computers as you are then they are tards.

Being unable to work a PC doesn't make you a tard.

However, far too many people look at PCs and go "I will never learn how to make that work", and that's complete BS.

It has a learning curve for sure, but that's the same for everything. That's not an excuse.

When the guy says something like that, does he strike you as a magical PC wiz-kid, who was born with an extreme technical aptitude?

No. He simply took the time to learn it, as anyone else can do.

To paint the picture:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/203/problemsolving.gif/

 

[scar_47]

Ease of use and the avialibility of games. I played a few games on pc and had issues with a few of them theres nothing worse for me than trying to get something to work when it should just work without me having to diagnos the issue and then figure out or look up how to fix it. It also doesn't help that a few of my favorite franchises aren't on pc. I've been thinking about getting into but your essentially buying another console that tends to have more issues I understand the upsides but there just not that big of a deal for me.

 

[Chased]

I like both. My first console was a SNES and my Dad also had a computer, primarily for work, that had a decent amount of games on it (Wolfenstein, Keeno Blaster, Duke Nukem, some platformer called Captain something or other). As of now I have a Macbook, which I play games on from time to time especially at Uni and while at home I'll play on my PS3 or Wii.

Both consoles and PCs have their pros and cons. I'm surprised at how many people in this thread are dismissive of one or the other.

 

[scorptatious]

Well I used to play TF2 on my laptop. But now for some reason I'm having a hard time playing the game on a decent framerate. So I kinda gave up on it.

Maybe when I actually make some money to afford an actual gaming PC, I'd probably be more into PC games. I may have to if the rumors about Microsoft and Sony making their consoles block used games are true. Until then, I'm happy with my consoles.

 

[Waaghpowa]

Jaggies?

Jaggies are awesome with their........JAGGINESS!

 

[Vigormortis]

These threads can always be well summarized with a long "DURRRRRR!"...

It's always different people repeating like the 3-4 same things they believe to be right because they are quite simply misinformed:

- People that think if you play on a PC you gotta use Mouse+Keyboard and somehow can't grasp the idea that you can stick Controllers, Joysticks, Racing Wheels or any other periphery into those USB ports unlike most consoles.
- People repeating how a gaming PC costs anywhere from 3000-10000$
- People that are saying their games look so much better on a TV or play better from a couch without realizing that the cable they are putting into the back of their monitor also goes into the back of a TV.
- People believing that one has to be some sort of rocket scientist for gaming on a PC (more like back in the 80s and 90s), when in reality nowadays it mostly constitutes being able to install Steam (and never even having to worry about physical media or losing games again), if you can manage using a computer for school/internet/work etc. you'll manage that.
- People that believe input devices handle the same and it being down to "preference" even though there are dozens of scientific studies on the superiority of pointing devices for certain genres like FPS.

And whenever someone points out what they are saying is ridiculous and tries to correct them he/she is being labeled "elitist".

Dexter111, don't bother. These points are made, backed-up, quantified, and verified repeatedly; yet the misconceptions continue. Most of the people that hold to those misconceptions simply put their fingers in their ears and chant loudly until you stop trying. They don't WANT to know the truth or face the fact that what they think they know is wrong.

Now, this is not speaking on personal preference. Some people just like their consoles. Just as some people just like their PCs. I say, they ALL play games; who gives a damn which one you're playing on?

Oh, that's right, the assholes of the world do. The vocal minority of each group. The ones who have made a choice and decide anyone who hasn't followed along must be an idiot; an idiot deserving of their ire

Let's all not be these people, m'kay? We all game on our own respective platforms. Each has their flaws, each has their benefits. Let's just play the games we wanna play and stop trying to make others feel bad for their choices.

That said, we really need to stop with the misconceptions. Especially in regards to PC gaming. The sheer level of misinformation I hear spread around now-a-days is staggering. Especially in a world essentially built on an infrastructure run by computers.

 

[kommando367]

3. Not enough variety of games. Although I'm probably looking in the wrong places, I'm still putting this as a reason.

This perplexed me. As a former console gamer turned PC gamer, PC's have pretty much every type of game that consoles do, in addition to many many others (a lot of indy games, RTS, MMO, etc)

The only genre I can think of right now that isnt well represented on PC's are band simulators like rock band, and motion control stuff.

That's just it. There is a lot of RTSs and MMOs, but I don't like those genres.
I like single player hack and slash games that aren't just "auto-attack with dice rolls and button mapped powers", FPSs, and action RPGs. There doesn't seem to be near as many of those as on console. Basically, games like God of War and Killzone 3 which are exclusives of playstation systems. Like I said before, I'm not sure where to look for PC equivalents of these games in the first place.

 

[liquidsolid]

I started out as a console gamer and my computer was the family computer which my parents didn't like me installing games on. I still did and do but try to keep it to a minimum. I have a Macbook and I have a few games but you know how it is haha.

I figure when the next generation of consoles come out I'm going to switch over to the PC gaming master race rather than buy a Playstation 4.

 

[CCountZero]

Wow, a number of my fellow PC gamers are being right asses to the console-exclusive gamers. Really guys? Is it really that important that you prove them wrong? Man, I don't understand why so many people have a stick up their butt about this...

I'm primarily a PCGamer, but I do own an X360, originally intended for the Halo series, but later also for RDR and Rock Band.

But despite having caved and bought said console, I also believe that consoles cause a stagnation in the further development of video games.

You don't improve the tech on consoles, 'cus there's nothing new to work with.

Maybe optimization gets a little boost here and there, but improvements made by virtue of the PC gamers basically counts every damn thing you could think of, and I shiver at the thought of how much faster we could be improving our tech if all the Console gamers would switch over

Not to mention what effect that would have on what's possible in videogames today.

Now, I know many people would say things like "Yeah, but do we really need that?" or "Meh, it looks fine as it is", but I can only ask, what if we'd said the same thing ten, or even just five years ago? Where would we be?

To me, looking at consoles and saying "Yeah, I'm satisfied" is to look at horse-drawn carriages and go "Meh, why did we ever invent the car?"

(Or to look at Earth and go "Meh, we don't need no Spacemen.")

I disagree with your entire premise. If consoles cause stagnation, the entire game industry should have ground to a halt by now, since A: consoles have been around nearly as long as video games have and B: ever since the NES have been the main place where most people play their games. And there have been many great games that have used their limited tech to great effect. Ever wondered why the Silent Hill devs choose to use so much fog? It is because the PSX had a crappy draw-distance. Seriously, that idea only makes sense if you are talking about graphics tech, the increase cost of which has not exactly been kind to the market.

That's the thing though. Consoles causing stagnation doesn't mean it all grinds to a halt, but only that it slows down. And it has slowed down.

And you're right, a lot of games have been doing some amazing things on limited tech. I remember seeing Crysis 2 on X360, and I was quite impressed at what they had made happen.
But that has nothing to do with further development.

Silent Hill devs didn't "choose" to fog it up. They were forced to.
Did it work well for the game? You bet it did!
But should they have had a choice, or at least the option of using more realistic smoke? I believe they should.
On PC, the smoke effects in Metro 2033 are absolutely amazing.

And improving hardware for gaming doesn't just mean "shinier pixels". We have the capability to make some extremely good looking stuff, but it's not being used because we don't have power to run it available to people.

Stuff like higher resolution textures and ten mile draw distances.

ArmA is doing it on PC, and we're seeing Skyrim mods that improve the texture resolutions eight-fold, and damn does Skyrim look absolutely gorgeous with some of the mods made for it.

But it all requires power, and that power is only gonna progress faster and cheaper with more people in the market for it.

 

[CCountZero]

-'If you don't play PC games, why?'-

Because 6 years ago a console cost me about $400, and I can still use it today to play new AAA games.

A 6 year old PC that cost about $400 couldn't play Skyrim ect.

How many games have you bought in those six years?

For every AAA game you've bought, take 35% of the cost, and add it together. That's how much money I saved by being a PC gamer.

I've done the math, and if I bought my games on console, it would actually be more expensive.

 

[TorqueConverter]

-'If you don't play PC games, why?'-

Because 6 years ago a console cost me about $400, and I can still use it today to play new AAA games.

A 6 year old PC that cost about $400 couldn't play Skyrim ect.

What kind of PC did you buy? Was it a gaming PC? I had an old gaming laptop I bought in 2008 and it was able to play every multiplatform release I had as good if not better than the Xbox and PS3 until the day I sold it. It was based on 2007 hardware even though I picked it up at discounted pricing in 2008.

 

[pilouuuu]

I do play solely on the PC, but if there were some reason not to, it would be to just turn on the damn thing and start playing with out having to configure or worry that I won't be able to play the game because of the requirements.

But even considering that I still prefer the PC for all the advantages we know it has and because even if configuring, patching, modding, updating the PC, may seem like a big hassle, I still have some fun doing it.

 

[William Dickbringer]

well my laptop overheats on anything demanding so not much I can play at the moment
and I don't have the room or the money to build the pc (I work a min wage job and have debts to pay off I can't afford to drop $500 on a computer)

 

[AceDefective]

Well I have games on the PC, but there is just so many distractions on a computer I often end up just browsing the web all day.

When I play on a console I do just that. Play the game

 

[Blade_125]

I feel sorry for people who don't play games on a PC. Some games are well suited to consoles, but others most definetly are not(although if you only like games that are suited to a console then this doesn't really matter).

 

[Legomaniac91_v1legacy]

While I like a lot of game on PC, I don't play for 3 major reasons.
1.) My laptop can't run most of the new stuff (except The Old republic, which I am enjoying immensely)
2.) I am still in college as of this posting and don't have a lot of free time at school
3.) my family's home computer is a Mac. 'nuff said